First Impressions
by Kaoz
Summary: Prÿce grew up hearing stories of her great-grandfather Bucky the Howling Commando best bud of Captain America. The boys in her family were very proud of that and served their country following the example of Bucky. So when the new council came a nockin' at the Barnes door… Prÿce was all for jumping at the chance no matter the danger. Wasn't that the example of the men in her family
1. Prologue

I'm Prÿce Barnes.

I get conflicting stories about how _that_ happened.

Pryce is my Grandmother's last name. She comes from a long line of 'distinguished'…. Pryce's. (I'd so giggle at that, too.)

All seriousness, though. My Mom's the daughter of a disowned daughter; a black sheep…. Grams decided _not_ to join the family biz. Then there's the _slight_ falling out between Grams and Mom.

Because Mom was stubborn. I hear Grams was just like that too. Hence the falling out. Anyway, Mom went looking. She got curious about this other side of the family tree and I cant blame her. I've been dying to do the same thing, only there wasn't anywhere for me to look into Dad's side, not really. So Mom, she went and found the family biz. But that's all I ever heard growing up. Not that they'd tell me anymore.

That's another story. Actually, it kinda loops into this one. But, you don't really need to know that part.

Not yet. For now, we stick with the Barnes. They're on Dad's side of the tree. And they're all patriots. Every last one has served their country. Soldiers to the core. My brothers included.

All _three_ of them. (insert eye roll and pained sigh, right here)

They're all very proud of this legacy.

And honored.

They're all so very…. Honorable.

They say what they mean.

And mean what they say.

I guess this part of our family code isn't too bad. We can always count on each other to protect and/or bring us down a peg or two.

So these Barnes men… They're always doing their best to 'do the right thing'.

And its so very annoying at times.

All of them trying to live up to Bucky's legacy.

Yes.

_That_ Bucky.

The Howling Commando. Best bud to Captain America.

To us…well, Bucky was only ever our bedtime story. His adventures with the Capt. during the war… It was all second or third hand knowledge, only we didn't know that.

Isn't it natural to wonder what he'd _really _been like?

Only there wasn't anyone to ask. No one really knew and its not like Bucky had known there was a little someone he was leaving behind when he joined up.

From what I've researched of the time, well… soldiers were leaving little something's left and right. Why was our Bucky going to be any different?

And then … this dude shows up, red and blue… people start talking and well … maybe there _was_ someone to ask? I mean, I'd already dug through all the historical propaganda on them both… what I really wanted was the truth. Something that would make Bucky _real_, instead of the fable I'd grown up loving.

Yeah, I said love. He's my ta-ta. And that translates from beaner speak, to great-great grampapy. I guess you can say I love the man in the story, like some hero that just doesn't get to fulfill his destiny. You just want him to get to finish his story.

So, getting close would be the problem, because finding him? _That_, I'm really good at. And really, its not like he can blend in…

But then, getting close turned out not be a problem after all.

And I have to say: Captain America?

He was kind of a jerk.


	2. First Impression

This was the first trip to New York that had absolutely nothing to do with slaying demons or vampires or any other monster. Magic was ended in a spectacular display of … chaos, that somehow ended up with the good guys wining. It also meant the activated slayers were now regular girls, most of them with a grudge.

How were they supposed to go back to being 'normal' when they'd been given a taste of being extraordinary?

So Buffy became a target for all those girls that wanted the Slayer power.

And Faith?

The damage to her body took a while for her slayer healing to mend. But she did and then she decided part of her 'path back to the good side' was to protect The Slayer. They were the last of their kind, the only Slayers who'd been Called…

"Thanks again."

Xander just shrugged a shoulder and glanced down at the girl keeping pace beside him. She looked much younger than she actually was and her choice of outfit wasn't helping; a cute frilly t-shirt paired with red denim short overalls. But it was her hair that got Xander calling her 'princess'. He grinned and flicked at her princess Leah buns. "Thank me later. When you're so bored you'll want to jump out the nearest window."

"Omg, you're drama." She laughed and nudged him with her shoulder as she gave a little hop into his side.

"Hey, I'm just saying you won't be happy you insisted on coming along." He'd warned her, said it was all boring NWC stuff that even Buffy didn't want to sit through. Which is why Faith was taking the hit and suffering through the endless meetings that week.

"It's New York." She said it like that was all the answer needed. What she didn't say was that the answers she was looking for where here. Questions she couldn't ask her Dad or Grandfather, they wouldn't have the answers anyway.

_'But he'll know.'_

What was a few hours of NWC meetings when there was the rest of the day to track him down and maybe meet... it was the meeting part she tried not to think about. That was going to be awkward, no matter how she tried to word it, there was just no way of introducing herself that didn't sound ... weird.

_"Hi, I'm your old buddy's great, great…great granddaughter. What's up?"_

Or _"I'm Prÿce Barnes. Yup, Bucky's my ta-ta. So, mind if I ask you some questions?"_

Nope, that wasn't gonna work. And then she'd have to translate her beaner slang. She almost rolled her eyes, only she wasn't alone and didn't need to have Xander questioning her.

"So," Xander stopped before they could get out of the secure area of the airport.

Prÿce looked up at him, waiting. She perked her eyebrows at him when he just kept fidgeting. "Are we gonna be killing something…?"

"No!" Xander hiss whispered as he glanced around them to make sure they weren't going to set off some kind of alarm. "How many times are you going to pull that?" he huffed with annoyance, glaring at her smiling face.

Prÿce gave a shrug. "Quien sabe, I still find it funny."

Xander just drew a breath and narrowed his eyes on her. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you-."

"Ooh!" Prÿce gave a little hop as she straightened to her full 5'2", excited and curious. "Now you gotta spill, because I will hound you mercilessly until I get it out of you and there's nowhere you can hide that I will not find and drag you out of." She winked. "You know its true. Spill."

Xander grimaced. "Oh I'm gonna… nope," he shook his head. "No I'm really not gonna feel sorry for him." He kinda grinned at the thought of 'sicking' Prÿce on Wes.

"Who?" Prÿce's brow furrowed and she took another step closer to Xander.

"Your…uh, great? Cousin. I think." Xander frowned as he turned and started walking again as he tried to figure out the relationship between Prÿce and Wesley.

"Que?" Prÿce followed after him, a pace behind as she tried to figure out what he'd said.

"Pulled your family tree." Xander said in as breezy a tone as he could muster while trying to sneak a glance at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Family tree?" Prÿce caught up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Are you gonna repeat everything I say?" Xander rolled his eyes with a sigh as he turned his head to glance down at her.

"Dude," Prÿce warned. "Do not mess with me right now." She tightened her grip on his arm and Xander was well aware that had she still been imbued with the Slayer power, his poor bones would be splintering. "Family tree, spill it."

"You said your Mom came looking and found the old council. Then …Bringers…" he made the yuk face he tried to use to cover when he was reminded of those he'd lost and didn't want to show it.

"Yeah, not fun." Prÿce nodded agreement. There had been a big ol' fight about that at home between her Mom, Dad and Grams.

"Yeah, well, with the old council being blown up… I asked Wes to see if he could find any survivors, at least some info. And …."

"OMG!" Prÿce grabbed his jacket sleeve in both her arms and gave a couple little hops. "You're killing me!"

That statement seemed to grab attention from bystanders and Xander scowled at her. "Quit it! People are gonna think I'm some old pervert trying to sacrifice an innocent child. Which you aren't." he pointed out.

Prÿce scoffed. "So am innocent." She stuck her tongue out at him for good measure.

Xander turned to the crowd of people waiting for loved ones and spotted Wesley hurrying to get through. _'Probably running late.'_ Xander thought.

"That's him." Xander pointed and watched Prÿce lock in on Wes.

"Dude in the tweed jacket?" she questioned then sort of frowned.

"Wesley!" Xander called and turned to catch the slightly startled expression on his face. "This is Prÿce. Your… niece?"

"My…" Wesley's eyes got rounder but before he could question Xander further he had a petite girl invading his personal space.

"So." Prÿce looked up at Giles younger version, eyeing him up and down.

"Uhm, hello-." Wesley tried to put some space between them by extending his hand but Prÿce suddenly grinned and jumped on him. She had a firm grip for such a tiny thing and Wesley turned a glare on Xander for laughing at how ridiculous he must look being hugged by a perfect stranger.

"She does that a lot." Xander chuckled by way of warning.

**btvs**

Faith lounged in the window seat of the NWC brownstone. She was not looking forward to the meetings they had scheduled. Everyone was hesitant about working with any government and this time they'd be completely exposed. The Initiative was still a thing, no one was going to tell them it didn't exist because the government wasn't about to let go of that bone just because two Slayers were telling them to. And now that most of the Actives knew there was a place for them with the government, simply because of their stint as Active Slayers… there were quite a few still pissed off about being de-powered. And what was that saying, about a woman scorned…

"What a bitch…" Faith sighed and let her head fall back into the wall. Sometimes this life was more of a headache than it was worth. But then she'd have to remind herself, this was exactly the life she was supposed to have if she wanted to earn her redemption. Lately she wanted to have a little slice of what the norms deemed 'happiness'. "Whatever the hell that is…"

Faith watched as the car pulled up and Xander got out followed by Wes. She smiled seeing the girl that hopped out of the back seat and ran up the front steps. She could hear her voice echo in the house through the door; Slayer hearing…

"Saw you in the window, now meet me half way!" Prÿce called as she hurried up the stairs.

Faith groaned, she didn't want to get out of her comfy corner, which is why Prÿce found her still at the window once she made it to the top.

"OMG!" Prÿce huffed, just slightly out of breath as she stood in the door.

Faith let out a guffaw and pointed. "You look ridiculous." There were a couple fly-way strands of hair all over Prÿce's face and one of her buns was seriously loose.

"You lazy old hag." Prÿce threw the insult then hurried towards the window seat and threw herself on Faith's lap.

"Hag?" Faith still chuckled but she grabbed the loose bun and yanked it completely loose in retaliation.

"Fregado!" Prÿce scowled, wincing at the pulled hair but she made no move to get her revenge. "Your laziness is contagious. I'll beat you up for that later."

Faith gave a bark of laughter and lightly shoved Prÿce to the side. The girl hadn't changed and Faith wondered again what made this one different.

"Man, those are a lot of stairs." Prÿce huffed and got herself into a sitting position with her legs dangling over Faith's. "So, what's up?"

Faith arched a dark eyebrow. "You tell me."

Prÿce gave an off-hand wave and scoffed. "You don't want to hear about senior yr in some boring old high school in California. Kinda want to blow it up…"

Faith snorted, rolling her eyes. "High school." She'd never really had that experience and now that she was older, she kinda felt a smidge of sadness that she'd missed out on those things that normal girls had. What she liked about Prÿce was that the girl heard all the stories, she'd even asked a couple questions once they'd known each other better, but she didn't put Faith into that 'box' everyone else had for her. Yeah, she'd screwed up, _was_ screwed up, maybe permanently, and people tended to go with that. But Prÿce wasn't like other people.

_'I'm not what my Dad thinks or wants me to be. I'm not what my Mom thought I was going to be. I'm certainly nowhere near what my grandmother wanted. I'm just me. My choices… they don't get to limit who I _can_ be. So what you've done… that's not _who_ you are. You're still becoming Faith. And I think the Faith that's my friend is awesome and I love her. So fuck everyone else and their idea of who you are.'_

"Ooh, that's one of your secret sex smiles, isn't it?" Prÿce stuck her finger close to Faith's face. "Are you gonna tell me-."

"Nope." Faith shook her head and tried not to laugh at the ridiculous things the girl could say. "You're way too young to be-."

"Dude!" Prÿce threw her hands up. "I'm older than you were!"

"And smarter." Faith nodded in agreement. "So keep it in your pants."

"Can't." Prÿce smirked. "Left them at home." She stuck her tongue out.

**btvs**

The next day found an equally happy and enthusiastic Prÿce at the breakfast bar already sipping coffee and perched in the corner waiting on the others to come down. She'd have to blame it on excitement. She was in NY, she'd met one of the relatives on her Mother's side of the tree, and she was closer to getting some answers to those questions she'd come to NY to find. This time, Prÿce couldn't stay asleep for a completely different reason.

Wesley didn't even notice her when he walked in. He got himself a mug and poured in coffee, stirred in some sugar. He turned with the mug at his lips to take a sip when his eyes landed on Prÿce and she spoke up.

"Morning!" Prÿce pressed her lips together as Wesley let out a pained hiss of breath and shoved his hands as far from his body as possible. "Oopsie…you spilled on yourself. Still hot?" she was doing a great job of not laughing but Wesley's eyes practically shot daggers at her. "So why don't you clean yourself up and I'll just make you another cup?" she set her mug down and hopped off the counter.

He walked out with her soft giggles echoing behind him.

_'Patience. She's only here for the week.'_ He told himself. The ride from the airport had been full of questions, some of which Wesley hadn't been able to answer. She was curious and enthusiastic, wanted to know _everything_ about his side of the tree, as she called it. Wesley had no idea how to get on with the girl. Yes, he'd put up with Buffy and Faith but they were Slayers. This girl was…

"Whatsa matter?" Faith yawned, jaw cracking and scowled.

"Good morning." Wes answered instead.

"You better not have spilled all of it." Faith warned as she started to walk past him, still in her shorts and tank top. "Hate being up this early." She muttered under her breath.

Wesley drew in a breath and continued towards his room. He pulled out a crisps white dress shirt and peeled off the ruined one as he headed into the bathroom to wash off.

When Xander had asked him to look into Prÿce's grandmother, he hadn't really thought too much about what he'd find, after all, the old council and most of the watchers had been blow up or taken out by the First.

Wesley had looked through some old files then dug into the boxes that had been shipped over from the family home. The one burned down by the First…

"Bastard really did try to wipe it all out." He muttered to the mirror. He winced as the slightly irritated skin on his chest was aggravated by the cotton wash rag. He tossed it aside and just patted himself dry and went back to his room to dress.

The box was in the corner and with a sigh he figured it was best to get it over with. Picking it up, Wes carried the box down to the kitchen where Xander was making pancakes and Faith was surprisingly docile as Prÿce manhandled her dark head of hair.

"I swear," Prÿce scowled. "Parece nido, and its so easy to put a comb through it."

"What for?" Faith tore another chunk of her pancake and stuffed her mouth.

"Como que-, you're being a jerk on purpose."Prÿce leaned around to get a good look at Faith's face.

"Nope," Faith flick her eyes to meet Prÿce. "I'm always a jerk."

"Ugh," Prÿce ignored her and quickly pulled Faith's long hair into a ponytail and then turned it into a messy bun.

"Now you look like a cute jerk." Prÿce gave Faith's back a slight shove and turned to grab herself a plate of pancakes.

Faith noticed Wesley's curious look and ignored it.

"Coffee in the blue mug is yours, Wes." Prÿce called as she headed towards the table with two plates. One of which she set in front of him. "Kinda wanted waffles but Xander's being an ornery old man so we get regular borings pancakes."

"I don't have to make breakfast at all…" Xander called from his spot at the stove.

"How 'bout some eggs?" Faith called over her shoulder and ignored Prÿce's soft snicker of laughter.

"Don't tell me you still can't make scrambled eggs?" Xander sighed and shook his head.

"I don't like them crunchy." Faith replied.

"Its called, _not_ burning them." Prÿce whispered loudly.

Faith's eyes darted towards Wesley, she could suddenly see herself straddling him as she threatened him with the blowtorch. The memory was so vivid it felt like she'd gotten the wind knocked out of her and Faith pushed away from the table.

Prÿce looked up, brow furrowed, at the sudden change in Faith's mood. She opened her mouth to ask if she felt alright but Faith spoke up first.

"That's enough for me. I'm gonna get ready for these meetings." Faith left them quickly and hurried to her own room.

She was never completely at peace, not with herself and never with her past. Sometimes it was easier to put it aside, kinda forget she'd ever been that… thing. And then there were the flashes of memory, of the things she'd done and people she'd hurt that would suck her in like she was there all over again. Right now, she could still get that faint smell of burned flesh…

Faith quickly jumped into the shower, clothes and all and turned the knob. A spray of freezing cold water hit her in the face. She choked on the shocked inhale of water and coughed, hand moving the knob so the water became tepid. She yanked the band holding her hair up, pulling some of it as she did. Then she peeled off her tank and shorts and stood with hands fisted on the shower tile trying to breathe and pulls herself out of the past.

The sounds of their voices kinda helped to focus her. Faith listened as Prÿce asked about the box and Wesley slid it over to her.

"I found some of these things…" he trailed off not sure how to even explain where they'd come from or even from whom. "I thought you'd like to have them."

"Me?" Prÿce's voice rose in surprise. "So, I get a new relative _and _presents?" she turned to Xander grinning. "See? _Best _trip EVER."

Xander snorted a laugh. "He gives you a moldy old box of dust and this is your best trip ever?"

Prÿce mock frowned at him and turned to Wes. "Don't listen to the old turd. He's just jealous."

"Turd?" Xander chuckled. "So not jealous." He said to Wes who still wasn't sure he was comfortable with how easily Prÿce got on with both Faith and Xander.

"Come on." Prÿce pulled on Wesley's shoulder. "You gotta show me what's inside."

Wesley ended up in the living room, the box lid on the floor somewhere, the family tree spread out on the coffee table and pictures of relatives scattered on top.

"Whoa…" Prÿce ran her gaze over all of it. "There's lots of white folk in here." She looked up at Wesley to find him kinda perplexed by her comment. "My other side of the tree has some color in it. Brown. Lots of beaners, well just a few. I mean, the Barnes started out kind of pale and Bucky accidentally added some beans to the mix and then we kinda kept putting more in the tree until Dad fell for Mom and then it got kinda pale again." She stopped suddenly.

It dawned on Wesley that Prÿce was nervous. This bubbly girl had no idea how to get on with him, so treated him like she did Faith or Xander, which had annoyed Wesley. He offered a small smile and pulled out a picture.

"You have the same shape to your mouth and nose…" Wes gave her the picture and Prÿce looked into the face of another female from his tree. It took her a moment to realize she was staring at a young version of her grandmother.

"Diana Prÿce was kind of a legend…" Wesley sat back and smiled.

"…got any stories…" Prÿce smiled and tucked her legs under her as she found a comfortable place on the couch to listen. She liked Wesley's voice, it was the accent, it warmed up his tone and she listened to him talk about Diana the Black Sheep of their family. She dared to walk her own path at a time when women weren't supposed to be anything other than meek and subservient. Even in the Council, with everything they knew about Slayers…

**btvs**

"You have fun?" Faith called from her perch on the couch as Prÿce tried to sneak in.

"Uh," Prÿce froze in the entrance. She tried a nonchalant smile and strode into the living room. "Well, yeah."

"Great." Faith stood up and draped her arm around Prÿce's shoulders leading her up the stairs. "Because Xander has something to tell you in the morning."

Prÿce groaned. "Is he going to 'ground' me?" she eyed Faith who laughed at the pained looked she tried to make into a pout.

"Uh-huh."

"OhmyGod!" Prÿce wiped both hands down her face in frustration. She'd already dealt with her Dad and brothers trying _make _her be normal girl until graduation. "Ok, I totally get I shouldn't have snuck away and not turned off my cell so you guys couldn't track and trap me before I was done exploring but come on!" she threw her hands up. "Active Slayer, killed the Seed, staked a whole bunch of vamps, got me some demons too and just because I'm no longer juiced up by the Slayer power I'm relegated to girl status?"

Prÿce knew they hadn't worried about her 'safety', not like this, when she'd been an Active. Of course, she totally got they had reason to worry when she was running around NY alone. Just because they'd killed The Seed, didn't mean all supernaturals were gone.

"You are a girl." Faith pointed out. She'd had to talk both Giles and Xander down from calling in some local demons, still on their side, to look for Prÿce. She'd been surprised when Wesley had put in his two cents in favor of letting Prÿce come back on her own.

"Dude, you know what I mean! Quit making this a joke." Prÿce stopped at the top of the stairs and faced the Slayer. "This is totally a serious moment and I'm gonna ask you to be an adult."

"Whoa," Faith held both hands up, palms out. "Who are you and what did you to my annoying little beaner friend?"

Prÿce tried to keep a straight face, but after a moment, she laughed. "You totally called me a beaner." She giggled again.

"I still don't see why you find that funny." Faith kinda frowned as they headed down the hall to their rooms. She got it wasn't socially acceptable to use that slang but Prÿce didn't find it offensive. Faith thought the girl got a kick out of hearing Faith say it.

"Cus you said beaner." Prÿce chuckled again. She got to her door and finally sighed. "I'll poke at Xander in the morning and make him laugh and he'll forget to ground me."

"That easy?" Faith shook her head, arms crossing as she let the smile show on her face.

"Uh, you should know." Prÿce waggled her eyebrows and pointed in the direction of the stairs that lead down to the guys floor. "Alright, so are we bunking in my bed or yours?"

"You're a little young for me." Faith deadpanned. "Not to mention, a minor…"

"Ugh!" Prÿce rolled her eyes. "All of a sudden…" she waved a hand as if saying that was bull shit. "And hommie don't swing like that."

It was Faith's turn to chuckle. "Go put on your PJ's and get some sleep. We have a full day of meetings tomorrow and I need someone to keep me awake."

"Oh si," Prÿce huffed with pretend offence. "You wont sleep with me but you want to use me." She turned, her chin up and headed into her room. "I got feelings you know…" she tossed over her shoulder and heard Faith's amused chuckles.

Once alone, Prÿce pulled off her clothes and jumped into bed where she curled up in the middle and tried to sleep. But her mind kept going over the day she'd spent exploring. She'd walked around Brooklyn trying to picture it the way it had been when Bucky had been alive. She'd tried to imagine them both just walking down the street or hanging out… at a soda shop? She laughed and turned onto her back. She'd spent most of the morning in the museum, studying it all, the pictures and the reels of them. The museum had come alive again with the return of Capt. America and it was kinda packed. But that hadn't ruined the experience. Prÿce had taken a walk to Bucky's old building, happy to see it was still there, in a way. But she hadn't been able to go inside and ask for a tour… she hadn't been ready for that and just standing outside the building had brought up some weird emotions. Prÿce didn't know why she'd felt so sad that her eyes had burned with unshed tears. And it had been the same in the museum, when she saw the reels and Bucky moving around, smiling just… that had been her ta-ta.

_'I probably wouldn't have ever met him anyway.'_ She told herself, because she'd been a surprise arrival. Five years after the last little Barnes had popped out, there she was…

"I can hear you _not_ crying, Prÿce." Faith's voice floated from the door way, mildly exasperated.

"Cus I'm not crying." Prÿce retorted. "Duh." She yanked the covers back and scooted over so Faith had plenty of room. After a moment, Faith sighed like a tired parent giving in and tucked herself into bed next to Prÿce.

"So, what?" Faith huffed. In the next moment she had Prÿce snuggled into her side, her soft voice relating what she'd done all day while they'd worried something had eaten, dismembered, sacrificed, killed or any of the million and one scenarios the Scoobies had lived through.

**btvs**


	3. The Set Up

They'd only just sat down in the comfortable office they'd set up in the town house the NWC owned in NY, when Giles entered and flicked on the screen to conference in Willow and Buffy.

Giles had already taken a moment to do his lecture on why Prÿce shouldn't be sneaking off on her own. And just as she'd told Faith, all Prÿce had to do was get Xander to laugh and he'd sort of let her off the hook. Wesley had been… different.

_"Wasn't the point of Faith being there, so I didn't have to?"_ Buffy's tone was cheerful and teasing. The sounds of waves crashing on the sunny beach filled the room. She turned slightly in order to get the sun out of her face and gave a wink aimed at Faith, who raised a hand in lazy salute as she sank further into the comfortable chair.

"Its just an update. There hasn't been anything end-of-the-worldy yet." Xander slowly rocked his chair looking kind of envious of Buffy's beach, while Prÿce was curled up in her chair, head resting on her hand. She'd gotten a bit of a lecture from Wesley for sneaking off and staying out.

Willow noticed the droopy expression and snickered, finger pointed in the direction of the Slayer who wasn't even trying to hide the jaw cracking yawn.

"Late night." Faith explained, head rolling slightly towards Prÿce and yawned again. She'd grumbled, making her grumpiness at being kept up, very obvious, but Prÿce hadn't paid any attention. It wasn't like Faith really minded. She cared about the girl… couldn't explain why, it was just easy to care about the kid.

Faith had met people before and instantly disliked them. But she'd never had the opposite reaction until she'd met Prÿce. There was something about her that sort of put a smile on Faith's face. If the kid was around… the mood lightened and her laugh-. Faith felt her lips twitch just thinking about it. It was kind of contagious, made you want to giggle a bit.

_"And your excuse?"_ Buffy arched a blond eyebrow wondering who Faith had found to stay up late with.

"Kid wouldn't shut up." Faith leaned back, eyes closing and ignored Prÿce's mutter of Spanish. She'd had enough of boring meetings, just sitting there while the suits talked and talked, and talked a whole lot more. But they never really said anything. Faith couldn't stand it. She kept telling herself the 'not' talking the suits kept blabbing was part of her penance. She had to learn patience, suffer the boring parts of this job.

"So what's the plan now?" Prÿce piped up when Giles paused. She stared back at them, waiting for an answer but they all seemed not to understand what she meant. After all the meetings she'd been to and poked Faith so she'd stay awake, this next one had her just a little nervous.

"Uh," Xander glanced at the split screen then back at Prÿce. "…lunch?"

Faith snorted a laugh. Giles frowned but then, he should have expected something like this. On the screen, Buffy just smiled and Willow actually let out a small laugh.

"Muy chistoso," Prÿce made a face, eyes rolling. "I mean," she pointedly ignored Xander and focused on Giles and Buffy. "Where does the NWC go from here? These meetings; FBI, CIA, and whatever other abbreviation there is…" she drew a breath, brow furrowed. "…you guys are meeting with _S.H.I.E.L.D._" that was kind of bugging her and she'd been paying attention at those meetings. There were… deals and contracts and agreements… being made with the US government and a few others. Meetings that Prÿce had sat in on, to the annoyance of all those old men in suits and uniforms that didn't care to understand what a teenager had to add that was of any value. Especially if she was no longer an Active.

_"…S.H.I.E.L.D….?"_ Buffy turned her attention to Giles. This was the first time she was hearing about it. She hadn't wanted to get involved with the government. The Initiative had left her with an aversion to any sort of military but she also understood that with the whole media storm of killing The Seed and ending magic, not to mention the Angelinos who'd been to He'll... The NWC was no longer able to stay in the shadows. They'd all have to play nice with the other kids on the yard.

"… Director Fury…" Giles nodded at the screens. "The man interrupted my tea. But he did bring me a very nice blend of-."

_"S.H.I.E.L.D. Giles." _Willow quickly redirected the older man before he got too off topic.

He just nodded, grabbed his glasses and started wiping them. It was such a familiar move on his part that the others got a soft smile on their faces seeing it.

"While I may have my reservations, as you all do," Giles acknowledged their concerns about this new plan of joining with the worlds governments. "We do not have the same anonymity as we once enjoyed."

"Totally," Prÿce muttered from her seat. She got a slight frown from Xander but that was it.

"We've agreed," Giles continued. "The best course of action has been to make these connections; the contracts and treaties we have agreed to with the government agencies in Israel, England, France, Germany, Russia, China and Japan… Its in our best interest, to form strong ties, to make ourselves indispensable if not downright formidable that the rest of the world's governments will want to follow in the steps of those that already have."

"So… I get the why." Xander sits forward, hands clasping under his chin. "But… I don't know if we're going to be able to stay out of the politics."

"Preach." Prÿce piped up. She didn't let their annoyance bother her. "Hey, I've been watching _House of Cards_. Its been very educational and interesting to see how, even though its a Hollywood version of the US government, it's a bunch of old white dudes working against the people because they want something. I am actually very disturbed by what I've learned. I always thought the US was above corruption. Now I know its just as bad as all the others, maybe worse considering they try to be sneaky about it." She frowned, shaking her head.

"Uh-huh," Faith was frowning, she turned her dark eyes on the screens and hooked a finger at Prÿce. "Kid's not wrong. The suits like to talk but they never really say anything, and how long are these new contracts going to take to get signed? Because I'm not looking forward to 'negotiating' terms in a couple of months because they've changed their minds. Again." She added when Giles opened his mouth to speak.

Giles really didn't have any defense. He'd been rather frustrated with the renegotiations from all of the governments they'd finally allied with. Not that it had been easy to convince them of the supernatural side. Even if they'd all been made aware of the Asgardian Thor's existence.

_"Is it too late to back out?" _Buffy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Dude," Prÿce rolled her eyes. "Try it now and we're looking at a _Red Wedding_."

"That would suck." Xander agreed.

_"…what about Hydra?" _Willow glanced at each of the faces not focused on her. _"I mean, its not like it's a big secret that Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D have history. And I'm pretty sure its not over." _

"How many times have you all stopped the apocalypse?" Prÿce asked.

Faith arched a dark eyebrow and nodded towards Prÿce. "She's got a point…"

Buffy heaved a frustrated sigh. _"So that's it then?"_ she frowned from the screen. _"Is the Slayer going to be fighting Hydra _and_ vampires, demons, ghouls…" _

"Oh," Faith sat up, scowling. "Hold up, nobody said Hydra was gonna be part of the deal."

"Uhm," Prÿce sort of raised her hand and sat forward. "Slayer handbook never mentioned Hydra being part of the supernatural bads a Slayer's supposed to slay."

"What she said." Faith agreed with the offered back-up.

Buffy hadn't liked working with the Initiative, that hadn't ended well and she didn't want a repeat but there wasn't another option. At least, she didn't have one to offer. _"As much as I've hated going down this path…"_

"The Slayer no longer walks alone." Giles spoke up. "Nor will she slay alone."

The room fell into silence, aside from the crash of waves from Buffy's screen.

"Would it be so bad?" Xander questioned. He cast his one good eye around the room and frowned. "We've been fighting all the supernatural bads since…it feels like forever… and what have we gotten?" he looked at all of them. "How many did we… lose?" He automatically thought of Anya but pushed that memory aside and refused to go there. Everyone had lost someone, or something... "And… I mean, we had to kill the seed of magic. We _killed_ magic." He still couldn't fully believe that part. And then to see the Asgardian Thor with his mighty hammer... wasn't it supposed to be a _magic_ hammer?

The front door opened and Wesley strode in. He stopped behind Prÿce's chair and she raised her hand in greeting. "You win."

Wesley looked confused for a moment until she mouthed _S.H.I.E.L.D._ "Not fans of S.H.I.E.L.D, hmm?" he offered a lopsided smile then raised his eyes to the rest of the group. "There's no harm in meeting with Director Fury." Wesley pointed out, and it was his idea in the first place to take the meeting when he found Giles drinking tea with the man. There were things that Wesley knew thanks to his time with Wolfram Hart, the others didn't. He couldn't help Fred. There wasn't a loophole that was going to bring her back.

Fred was gone…

"And what if," Xander holds up a finger to stall the others from the well known protests. "Once we agree to join up, or help them out with any supernaturals, it turns out that S.H.I.E.L.D. really does have some Hydra spies?"

_"…I could find out…"_ Willow hesitantly held a hand up.

"You are not hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D." Giles warned, realizing that's what she'd meant. It had been hard enough to get as far as they'd had with the various governments. If Willow started hacking them… Giles didn't want to think about the consequences of that. Rebuilding trust was a very delicate, difficult and tedious enterprise. Looking around the room, Giles couldn't help a sad little smile at how worth it that had been for his kids and he.

"She probably could." Prÿce muttered form her seat. All she could think about was being found out. She'd made it a point not to mention any relation to Bucky. After all, Barnes wasn't _just_ Bucky's last name. There were plenty of Barnes that weren't related to the Howling Commando, so Prÿce just let everyone else think that was her. But if they went into S.H.I.E.L.D and it just so _happened_ that her brother was there… "Me lleva…" she muttered under her breath. With her luck, someone would tell on her.

_"I'm with Giles on this one, Wills."_ Buffy didn't need to poke the bear before they got a chance to meet. _"There's no telling how pissed they'd be and we're sort of out numbered here…"_

"Ended magic and deactivated all the Actives..." Xander blew out a breath. He knew they were all thinking about the fallout, those deactivated girls that died still fighting demons and monsters... At the end, that's where they'd suffered the biggest loss...

"The Slayer power was never really theirs." Prÿce frowned at them. "You shared it with us. You activated us, that doesn't mean we get to lay claim on it." She could see the flicker of emotions cross their faces. They'd all felt guilty for activating them, they'd made the decision together and the slayers stood together when it came time to fess up. But at the time, all the Actives hadn't really cared. They'd all become more than who they'd been and that was all that mattered. Until it was taken back.

"So," Faith cleared her throat, eyes flicking away from Buffy's. "We working with S.H.I.E.L.D. now?"

Willow made a noise of protest from her side of the screen, hand raised as if she were in the classroom. _"Shouldn't we keep that meeting first?"_ Willow jumped in. _"Seems a pretty good idea, I mean, we don't know what else is going to change since the Seed-."_

"Got murdered by us?" Prÿce cut in. She cast a frown at the group and got to her feet. "Yeah, I'd say that was pretty epic."

Wesley made a soft humming noise that drew her eyes. "Well…" he drew a breath and removed his glasses. "My…return…from 'death', thanks to the argument, that we signed to Wolfram Hart without our full knowledge, since Angel had made it a condition in his contract that none of us remember Conner…"

"Loop hole." Xander said in a soft voice. They'd all felt the loss of Wesley. They'd been spread out, each of them putting out little fires here and there… and their friends were gone. LA sucked into Hell by the evil law firm that was trying to get Angel on their side.

And Wesley…

Dead.

"Yes, loop hole." Wes agreed. He hadn't reconciled with that yet. It still felt like he'd somehow cheated, like he didn't belong, as if everything just fit a little big on him… "I've…this… do over." He huffs a sort of laugh at the ridiculousness of it. "Second chance…whatever we call it." He lifted his gaze from where it was on the ground and found that Prÿce was staring at him intently. He offered a smile but it didn't remove the worried expression on her face. "I chose to be here. To help…" he'd really left the Hyperion, LA and everything that reminded him of Fred.

"We know, Wes." Xander had been happy to have Wesley join them. "I'm even kind of glad Angel's on our side too." He glanced at Buffy. "Even if he was a pain in the ass hiding out as Twilight."

Buffy made a face. _"Yeah, well, not his best look but it worked out ..."_

"Alright," Xander raised a hand and glanced around the room. "Raise your hand if we give S.H.I.E.L.D. a chance-."

"To brainwash you into joining up." Prÿce muttered loud enough they all heard her.

"To meet." Xander arched an eyebrow at her.

Prÿce just huffed a breath and crossed her arms. This was her fault, anyway; for not telling them about her ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. or Bucky. Granted, it was kinda fun to watch Xander go fan girl over Captain America… and then she remembered how her grandfather had looked when she chose to leave because the NWC came a-knockin'. They'd never expected her 'desertion', because the plan was to join some branch of the US military. Even for the girl Barnes… so choosing the NWC over them, because that's how they saw it, was a slap in the face. Her grandfather had been upset and he wasn't speaking to her. That hadn't been so bad when Prÿce had been away from home… but they ended magic.

And that meant, Prÿce was once more a normal teenage girl.

**btvs**

Faith moved towards the window at the sound of the first 'boom' that echoed. She felt its rattle in her skin even before the buildings began to shake. From their building she couldn't really see the source of the noise, but she knew better than to ignore her Slayer sense and it was definitely something big. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed as she started for the stairs. Xander and Prÿce had gone out for food an hour ago, and Faith had the feeling they wouldn't make it back before whatever was out there was taken care of. Once on the first floor, she found Wesley in the office, the case with the black scythe was on the desk.

"Why do you have that?" Faith changed direction and walked into the study. There had only been one scythe. The one Buffy had found. The red scythe that splintered in two when they'd fulfilled the prophecy and killed The Seed…

"You'll need it." Wesley opened the case and stood back to stare down at the shiny black scythe. "One of two…" he turned to her. He couldn't tell them much about what was coming, what he knew… its like a hazy dream. Images like echoes that don't make sense… not until its almost time. Then its like a cold bucket of water in his face. It takes his breath and leaves him frozen before he's thrown into reality and he does his part.

Faith stared at him. She could still see the man she tortured…the man that hated her for it. But there was _this_ Wesley, too… and this one… this Wesley was different.

"…I keep getting the feeling you know stuff the rest of us don't…" Faith stared but Wes didn't give anything away.

The sound of smaller explosions echoed into the house softly. That drew their attention to what had gotten Faith moving outside. "Damn it." Faith started towards the door again and stopped. She glanced at her scythe….

The first time she'd touched it… when she woke up after everything had …ended… The Scythe… it had felt more _hers_ than the red one had. There was a certainty, a oneness, when she had the black scythe in her hands. And it hadn't been like that with the red one.

That one belongs to Buffy.

"New York is under attack, Faith." Wesley crossed the room and pulled open the doors to the weapons closet. "Take your scythe."

Faith only hesitated a second before she grabbed it out of the case. She felt the soft whisper of familiarity course through her body. It was like a current of energy that seemed to wake her up entirely and her grip tightened. She tore her eyes away from the Scythe and saw that Wesley had grabbed a small battle ax along with his 9mm beretta's. "Bring her bow." Faith pointed to the weapon neatly hung in the closet. "She hates crossbows."

Wesley watched Faith hurry out the front door. He already knew what was outside, a little gift from Wolfram Hart thanks to the Powers That Be and that loophole.

**btvs**

**AN: Okay, so there's only 1 more chapter to this fic.**

**Although... I'm kinda working on a 2nd fic to continue this pairing... any suggestions?**


	4. Kind of a Jerk

**Kind of a Jerk…**

_She keeps looking around, trying not to be obvious but even so, draws a weird look from Faith. And during the pitch, Fury gives them a speech on how they'd benefit from working with each other. He points out how the NWC can handle all the supernatural stuff. Everyone going about their business, as usual…_

_"…your little wolves and ghouls, demons… vampires?" in his long career, with all the things he's seen…well, werewolves and vampires? " SHIELD will continue to focus on the Inhumans, the Asguardians… and Hydra."_

_"Inhumans." Faith doesn't hide the tone of her voice that says she doesn't like the term. _

_"We aren't alone in the universe." Fury offers a crooked twist of his lips. He can't tell them how **un**-alone they are. He almost touches the patch covering his eye, the memory of how he got the scar is still fresh. _

_"Yes," Giles looks just a little annoyed. "we are aware of Thor."_

_"He wouldn't be the only God we've come across." Xander gets that look again, that pained-nightmare look before he shakes it off and tunes into where they are. "Or fought."_

_"Right," Fury gives a slight tilt of his head. "Heard about that…" he waves his hand, like there's a fly he's swatting aside when he says; "and that town that's now a crater." And seeing the hard look come over their faces tells Fury he was right to reach out in the first place. So maybe these kids and their librarian have an idea of what can come from the stars. They've fought a God and somehow they survived. They buried an entire town but …well they ended up alive._

_"The Kree." Fury decides he's gonna tell them about it, some of it, anyway. "Alien invader, thousands of years ago. They experimented on humans; DNA splicing."_

_Prÿce glanced at their faces, she wasn't sure they didn't believe it but none of them looked amused, either._

_"Why?" Xander twitched uncomfortably. He didn't like the reminder of all his kidnapped times. So, aliens experimenting on humans was…_

_"Needed soldiers." Fury swiveled in his chair, like it was just a normal thing. "They were fighting a war. The important thing is, we now have an outbreak of inhumans."_

_"The fish oil…" Faith trailed off at the looks she was getting from Xander and Giles. She'd hear about the breakouts in the news, something about it just gave her a bad feeling. Things were only going to get worse and hearing Fury talk about them… Faith was pretty sure she was right._

_"And smart." Fury smiles at them again. "Yes, we 'lost' some very important blue crystals. And now these human descendants of the spliced kree/humans have… evolved."_

_"Is that what you call it?" Faith scoffed._

_"Officially its called 'terragenesis'." Fury sits forward, his one eye pins them all. "And they'll be handled by SHIELD."_

**btvs**

Prÿce stared, kinda awed at the huge alien snail she could see …'swim'… through the New York sky, like some huge whale….

"That's a _big_ alien." Xander notes, watching it slowly turn.

"…uh-huh…" Prÿce turns too, following its path until its behind buildings. "You thinking maybe those Kree dudes…?"

"…No?" Xander frowns slightly. "Maybe?" he looks at her and shrugs.

"Don't think they came for the curry." She looks down at the bags in her hands then at Xander and sighs. "This is the _only_ part of slaying I _never_ enjoyed."

They both startle when the screams are loud enough they both hear them.

"Ok, so…" Prÿce holds out the bags. "Pretty sure I already know, but I figure… you wanna say it?"

"What?" Xander glances mournfully at the food they'd just picked up. "How aliens invading NY are _ruining_ perfectly good curry?" he sighs and when Prÿce quickly sets the bags on the steps of the brownstone they're standing in front of, he utters a pained sigh before they both quickly head towards the screaming masses.

They don't get far before the alien invaders are visible on the farthest buildings. And then small groups of people, each of them running away from the epicenter of the invasion, shove past them. Prÿce gets knocked into by an older man in a fancy gray suit. She slips off the sidewalk, her heel catching and she almost falls.

"So maybe you shouldn't have worn those shoes…?" Xander arched a dark eyebrow. He took in her outfit for the day, from the top of her half-braided pony-tail, the light sparkle of eye-shadow and berry-pink lips to the white off the shoulder quarter sleeve peasant top, embroidered with bright fuchsia, orange, yellow and green flowers and vines, to her cut off shorts and then the not so practical shoes she was wearing.

"What's wrong with my shoes?" Prÿce frowns at her feet. "They go with my outfit." She looks at Xander like he's got no fashion sense.

"Yeah," he lets out a breath. "Ok."

"Come on, old man." Prÿce waves him after her into the middle of the street. "We've got aliens to slay."

Xander runs with her, avoiding the people running towards _them_. That would be the smarter thing to do. But Xander's not the type to run away from danger, not anymore.

When it gets harder to run through the mob of screaming NewYorkers, Xander pulls Prÿce onto the sidewalk. The sky lights up with a thundering blast and then lightning spreads through the skyline from the spire at the top of the Empire State Building.

"Whoa." Xander breathes out.

"That's Thor." Prÿce is awed at the lighting forking through the sky over her head. "So…cool!" she grins, just a bit disappointed when the lighting fades out. "Come on. We're missing all the action!"

Prÿce smiles, she hadn't thought to miss the Slayer power but ever since they'd ended magic and she'd been turned back into a pumpkin… well, Prÿce just missed slaying. Sometimes, she wished she still had the Slayer power, but only because that had given her the opportunity to pretend she could be Wonder Woman. Super strong, protecting the innocent… "Point me!"

Xander shakes his head, breathing out a tired chuckle. "Your exuberance is disturbing." They take off with him in the lead. "You do know you're no longer an Active." He throws over his shoulder. "No super power…"

Prÿce huffs with slight annoyance. "I've got training, that's all I need." She'd said the same thing to her Dad when she told him she was going to join the NWC. "The Slayer power was just a perk. Oh, and it was fun." She adds with a big grin because it had been fun.

"Right…" Xander chuckles kinda confused by the girl. More explosions shake the ground and its closer than before.

"You think the NWC just has bad luck?" Prÿce wondered. She was thinking they'd be losing another building and this time it wasn't even a supernatural bad trying to kill them.

"The town house should be far enough away from the epicenter…" Xander frowns but he can't be sure about that. He looks up and the way the alien whales are moving… then he spots the first fighters. "Okay, those are not good." He points and Prÿce follows the trail of two when they shoot.

"…its coming this way. Xander, its coming towards us!" Prÿce grabs his sleeve and quickly starts moving back onto the side walk while keeping her eyes on the fighters above them.

"Run!" Xander pulls her along but she trips when he yanks on her. He slips his arm around her waist and picks her up only to duck behind the SUV parked a few feet ahead.

The explosion rocks the SUV and knocks them both onto the sidewalk.

"Oh," Prÿce scowls. "now I want to return the favor." She pushes up and feels her knee sting but otherwise she's ready to get closer to the fight.

**btvs**

_"…__I would really like an answer to my question; S.H.I.E.L.D." when the rest of the room just stared at her like they didn't understand why that would be a problem, Prÿce jumped to her feet. "OMG! I'm a **Barnes**."_

_Prÿce stared at their uncomprehending faces. They really had no clue and the past few days she'd been a ball of nerves, munching on everything, sleeping fitfully… and they had no clue. " As in Howling Commando James Buchanan Barnes is my ta-ta."_

_The varying expressions of surprise and slight confusion only annoyed her a little more. She hadn't ever told them she was related to Bucky. Prÿce didn't like to brag about it like her brothers did. They'd all gotten to where they were on their own , which is why they felt like bragging about the hero in their family tree._

_"What do you mean by… 'ta ta'…" Xander questioned, because in his mind he was totally picturing very different tata's._

_"Howling Commando…?" Wesley echoed, his eyes narrowing slightly, like he was remembering something or putting it together. Prÿce chose to ignore him and focused on Xander._

_"Gramps, you old perv." Prÿce frowned at him. She ignored his slightly offended expression and focused on the others. "My Dad and brothers have all been very proud of our legacy. Jimmy works for S.H.I.E.L.D."_

_"Your brother…?" Faith sat up with interest. "The one with the blue eyes, dark hair-."_

_"Hey," Prÿce turned on Faith, finger raised in warning. "No playing with my married brother, who just happens to be waiting on the stork to deliver later this year."_

_"How many brothers do you have?" Faith perked a dark eyebrow. She was only partly teasing, though she was curious about these brothers Prÿce always started talking about but never really gave details of._

_"Agh!" Prÿce threw her hands up with annoyance. "You horny hag."_

_Faith just sat back into her chair with a grin. She didn't like this side of Prÿce, the girl was way too happy to get mopey._

_"Why didn't you say anything about your relation to-." Wesley got a glare he was very familiar with. It was uncanny and he immediately stopped talking._

_"Me lleva…" Prÿce scowled and turned away from them, crossing her arms and tapping her foot as she grumbled under her breath. "Pero como no entienden!" Prÿce threw her hands up in frustration. But it was her fault for not telling them about her Dad and brothers. _

_"Then explain it to us, little P." Faith stood up and crossed her arms low over her body. Her Spanish still wasn't great, but at least it wasn't as bad as it was when Prÿce first started teaching her the not-bad words._

_Prÿce looked around the living room; Wesley, Giles, Xander and Faith all had their eyes on her… How was she going to explain that choosing the NWC over the US military had been a slap in the face her grandfather still hadn't forgiven her for or bothered to say a word to her. That hadn't been so bad while Prÿce had been an active but then when the Slayer power was returned and she was just a regular teenage girl again… Prÿce hadn't had an excuse to stay away and avoid the passive-aggressive remarks from her brothers and the angry silence from her grandfather. But maybe the worst part was having her Father constantly pushing her to follow in their footsteps and ignore the work she'd done with the NWC. Like she hadn't save the world, like she hadn't done something just as important as her brothers, like she hadn't been a super hero for a millisecond of her young life!_

_Prÿce huffed a heavy breath, her eyes found Wesley and she gave a shrug. "Diana Pryce…" she used her thumbs and pointed at herself. "Prÿce Barnes."_

_"Hmm." Wesley was the only one in the room that understood what she meant. He'd sat there and told her the story he'd been able to overhear from other adults in their family. Prÿce hadn't told him about her Father's side of the family tree other than it was darker than his side. _

_"…and we need more details…" Xander leaned a little closer, all of them staring at Prÿce. _

_"Fregado," Prÿce muttered. "…my family are military men, they've been following in Bucky's footsteps since WWII. When Andrew showed up to-." The dorky novice Watcher had been a surprise, a happy one for her as it turned out. "…when he explained about the Slayer power and the HellMouth and being activated… I got to choose another way." Prÿce glanced over at Faith and she could see the Slayer remember that conversation. "I'm not who the Barnes men expected me to be. Dad didn't talk to me for months after I chose to join the NWC. 14 and I'm throwing our family legacy aside to play SuperGirl with a bunch of other girls. Fighting them to go when Dad said 'No' pissed off the rest of the Barnes men and my grandfather…" Prÿce drew in a heavy breath. She slowly turned away from them, threw her hands up and just shook her head. "Grampa… really hates I'm still with the NWC."_

_"Why didn't you say anything before?" Giles frowned. He'd known there would be parents who didn't want their little girls fighting demons. He didn't blame them for being angry at the NWC, for allowing their girls to fight for them… He knew Buffy and Faith… they carried their guilt for their dead girls… He did too._

_"Because then you'd all have sent me home once I was a real girl." Prÿce faced them again. "Dad already had me enrolled in high school when he found out I wasn't super powered. I'm still fighting to keep my 'internship' with the NWC. Every time, its another fight with Dad, or my brothers all have something to say. Because a Barnes always says what they mean and means what they say."_

_And it was that little bit of their family motto that always got her out of the house and in the car with Faith or Xander. Because they were the only two that would come to get her …_

_"And I was supposed to join up, just like all the Barnes have done since Bucky got-."Prÿce bit her lip. In all her research, she found the draft letter… He hadn't been the only one, of course… _

_"You're still a minor, Prÿce." Xander said. _

_"Nah," Prÿce rolled her eyes. As if she hadn't been aware of it before. "Why do you think I kept my mouth shut?" she frowned at them. "Like I need to be fighting to keep my place here, on both fronts."_

_"So," Faith's smirk said she had it figured out and Prÿce had to keep from rolling her eyes. "Figured you'd make it to your 18th and then…"_

_"Dad cant force me to be a 'normal' girl anymore." Prÿce answers with a nod._

_"Its not like you ever were." Faith arches a dark eyebrow. "Right?"_

_Prÿce stares back at Faith. 'She's right.'_

_ She's a Barnes and that means they have a responsibility. To serve, to protect… "I'm …who I'm supposed to be." She smiles at Faith. "S.H.I.E.L.D. can suck it." She shrugs her shoulder when Giles frowns at her. "What, I tell my brother that all the time when he tries to get me to leave the NWC."_

_Faith chuckles. "I'm keeping this one."_

_"Yeah," Xander sighs, shaking his head. "That's been pretty clear since Prÿce was an Active."_

_"Its totally platonic." Prÿce protests. "Just last night she refused to sleep with me cus 'I'm a minor'." She makes the air quotes._

_"Hey," Xander mock-frown s as he waggles a finger at Faith. "You cant be corrupting the kiddies."_

_"Omg, take a walk down memory lane some other time." Prÿce stomped into the middle of the group. "Preferably when you guys tell me the NWC is not gonna join with S.H.I.E.L.D." she looked at them in turn then slapped her hands together. She'd just spilled the beans and they were still debating it. "Come on, please!"_

**btvs**

He's on his way to the bank when he spots the civilians running for cover and the two aliens that drop down to block the two stragglers from the ones that manage to keep going. They back off, the girl grabs a piece of rebar from the rubble and swings at the alien while the guy pulls his 9mm and shoots.

The shield comes out of left field, so to speak. It slams the alien in the head, the weapon pointing up into the skies blasts another one from the wall. He turns, wide eyed as the blue clad body lands on the roof of the SUV. The startled shout just behind him, has Xander jerking around to watch as Prÿce loses her grip on the alien and gets tossed into the windshield before she rolls herself onto the ground as the alien blasts the car.

"…incoming!" Prÿce groan-shouts at them from her spot on the street. She's feeling it all along her back and her knee stings. She'd kinda forgotten what it was like to have skinned knees… _'So don't miss that.'_

Xander tried to reach Prÿce but another alien crushed the hood of the car. Before Xander had a chance to react, a blue leg swung out in front of him and brought the alien down. Xander watched in awe as Capt. America took down two more aliens before one wrapped itself like a monkey over him.

"Oh! Hey-!" Xander made to grab the alien but it went flying off and then Capt. America jumped onto the roof of the SUV and slammed the alien trying to shoot them. "Wow."

Xander was so in awe, see the alien getting up on the other side of the car. But he sure let out a shout when the blast from the alien weapon sizzled close to his back it raised the little hairs on his body.

Prÿce turned and blasted the two aliens Capt. America was still dealing with.

"Okay," she's grinning and breathing hard. "I seriously need one of these." she looks at Xander slightly raising her new toy and winces. Her back hurts like crazy and her knee is starting to hurt more which tells her its not just a scrape. And she's not going to say a word to either of them. "How come we never got cool blaster thingies?"

"I don't know." Xander huffs a breath. He's breathing a little fast and hiding the worry because the teenager that no longer has the Slayer power, is bleeding and seemingly oblivious to it. "Let me email R&D." he says sarcastically. Prÿce just sticks out her tongue and Capt. America doesn't get why they aren't taking this seriously. Their reaction to the alien invasion kind of annoys him. And then Steve realizes that this girl and her breezy attitude are reminding him of Stark and that nonchalant I don't give a fuck attitude of _his_.

"You should get to safety." He warns in his most Capt. America voice.

"Uh, duh." Prÿce pushes down on her annoyance and looks up at him while wiping at the wet whatever on her forehead. "But did you miss the part where I saved your ass?" she looks him over and smirks. "It's a nice one too. Ever consider maybe wearing camos…? Not that you shouldn't wear the tights." She winks. "I like those too."

Xander sighs, kinda embarrassed cus he's a fan of the Capt. Having Prÿce mouth off to a national hero was never part of his fantasy of how he met Capt. America.

"You should know better." He frowns at Xander cus he thinks Prÿce is just a kid who shouldn't be out in the middle of battle. "She's just a kid." He points out and then he remembers he'd been one to when he first started and technically he's still kinda in his early 20s-not counting the frozen period.

Prÿce clears her throat, because right now, she doesn't really care that Capt. America practically dropped in her lap. "Don't you have damsels' in need of saving? Don't see any of 'em here?" she looks to Xander with a slightly narrowed gaze. "You?"

Xander's not sure how to answer cus he's still a fan of Capt. America but Prÿce? Even without the Slayer power, still knows a whole bunch of ways of hurting him, not to mention she's a girl and girls are evil when you piss them off.

Thankfully, Xander is saved from answering when Capt. America grabs his ear and its obvious that someone is talking to him. "Get to safety." He orders as he hops off the SUV, grabs his shield and takes off at a run.

"Mira que mandon." Prÿce huffs, glaring at the blue figure. She wasn't too sad to see him go, even if he was taking the answers with him. But she wasn't in the mood to deal with some macho jerk. And that was kind of a letdown too. She hadn't pictured Capt. America as that type.

"So…." Xander eyed Prÿce's tight grip on the staff weapon and then waved a finger at his own forehead, devoid of any blood.

"Oh," Prÿce gave him the big wide eyes. " Am I bleeding?" then she frowned at him.

"You know," Xander pulled the cell phone from his pocket. "Maybe we should meet up with Faith and Wes?"

"Now that's an awesome plan." Prÿce was looking forward to it. And she had a brand new toy to get familiar with.

**btvs**

* * *

**AN: so this is the end. I was going for kind of a cute, short fic. Hopefully it worked out. Now, for part 2. I'm working on it but I could use some help for the title. Technically it will be the 2nd time Prÿce and Capt. America will meet so... any suggestions?**


End file.
